Kayani to retire on 29 November

Published
27

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has stated that he will retire on 29 November.

As per a statement by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), General Kayani has said that institutions and traditions are more important than individuals.

"For quite sometime, my current responsibilities and likely future plans have been debated in the media with all sorts of rumours and speculations doing the rounds.

"The subject of being entrusted with new duties has also come up in several reports. I am grateful to the political leadership and the nation for reposing their trust in me and Pakistan Army at this important juncture of our national history," the statement read.

"As I complete my tenure the will of the people has taken root and a constitutional order is in place. The armed forces of Pakistan fully support and want to strengthen this democratic order," Kayani said.

"It is time for others to carry forward the mission of making Pakistan a truly democratic, prosperous and peaceful country that embodies the finest dreams our founding fathers had envisaged for us," the ISPR statement read.

Kayani's announcement comes after much speculation as to what future course of responsibility he would carry on.

Sources and aides close to Kayani said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to make him head of a revamped and more powerful Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC).

One senior intelligence official had said that Sharif planned to overhaul the JCSC, a largely ceremonial office, into a “central defence body” by restoring its command over the entire military establishment and giving it additional powers.

Opinion

Editorial

Risks ahead
02 Oct, 2026

Risks ahead

ON Thursday, a day after the PTI leadership expressed its resolve to go ahead with its planned protest march this...
Exit from Iraq
02 Oct, 2026

Exit from Iraq

AMERICAN and British troops have once again shipped out of Iraq. On Wednesday, the foreign forces left the Arab...
Lahore’s ozone warning
02 Oct, 2026

Lahore’s ozone warning

LAHORE has received another warning that its air pollution crisis cannot be treated as a problem that begins with...
Fixing bond markets
Updated 01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, retail investors, and eventually, foreign investors must become bigger participants in the market.
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...